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Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Hey, Hey, We're the Monkeys! (2012 Joint Birthday Party)

I'm kind of trying to catch up on some posts this week and since it's been about a month since the kids' birthday party, I decided maybe I should blog about it!

I started early trying to brainstorm themes for a party that would work for a boy or a girl since I knew that I wanted to do a joint party, as the kids' birthdays are less than two weeks apart. [Sidenote: I may be a little lazy, but it worked great and I'm doing a joint party until they're old enough to ask me to do otherwise.] Anyway, Ann Peyton has such a fascination with monkeys, so when my mom found some little cards with sock monkeys that she thought I could use for an invitation I jumped all over it. If a monkey party was good, a sock monkey party was better!

I've done some "crafting" with the invites all three years.We've always had small parties, so I didn't need a bulk mailout or anything and having them professionally printed just hasn't seemed necessary. It's been fun to see what I could come up with! Here's one of the invitations that was the inspiration for the party:

I had a lot of fun decorating for the party and the best part was that AP loved it all. I didn't really realize that she cared until she told me "Thank you, Momma, for putting the little things on the table for my party". I thought I was still doing it for myself and my friends!

I found some sock monkey scrapbook paper at Hobby Lobby and used it and some twine (and some craft scissors) to make the birthday banner. I painted some very basic little sock monkey faces on a couple of canvases and that was the mantle set up.

[Awful quality cell picture alert!] My mom found some little sock monkeys at Walmart around Christmas for a couple of dollars a piece and grabbed them for favors. I was a little upset about them seeming so Winter-y, but I doubt anyone else noticed!

I set up Graves's monthly pictures on the buffet and put an album of all Annie's as well as each year's pictures of her on the table behind the couch. I also set up the digital photo frame with all our weekly family pictures scrolling in order. It's fun watching how everyone has changed so!

I didn't do anything too elaborate for the food...

the whole set up

A very talented friend of a friend (who I now consider a friend) made this precious cake. I was so impressed and Annie just loved it!

She also made this adorable smash cake for Graves. I found this super simple cupcake idea on Pinterest.

I made some chocolate cover bananas, caramel puffcorn, and brownies and then we had the drinks set up on this little table that Peyton and I finished painting around midnight the night before the party! Peyton insisted on not using paper plates and I thought our melamine actually looked really cute!

I didn't really get many candids of the kids. We asked for no presents, so there wasn't really a present time. I did get a few of them enjoying their cakes, though! Oh, and their outfits were kind of random strokes of luck, too. I had been looking and looking on eBay and then I just happened to find a little blue bubble with monkeys on it at a consignment sale. It had a monogram on it, but my mom pulled it out and we had it remonoagramed with Graves's initials. I looked on Etsy to see if I could find something for AP that was similar and I found *the* cutest little dress in the same pattern. She loves it and wants to wear it daily. Ha!

I was actually pretty proud of how well it all turned out! Not because it was anything supper impressive, but because this kind of thing really doesn't come easily to me and this year, I felt like a I did a good job AND I didn't get super stressed over it.

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About

Peyton and I have been married for just over six years. He is a pharmacist and I stay at home with (and homeschool!) our two children. Our little girl was born on April 2, 2009. She is amazing- beautiful, funny and smart. Then on April 12, 2011, we welcomed a little boy, Graves. We just adore him. I love getting to know my husband, my daughter, my son and my Lord more and more each day. Peyton and I met, fell in love, married, and had our two children in Mississippi. But, because it's always been a dream of Peyton's (and became a dream of mine), in February of 2014 we embarked on what we knew would be a temporary adventure to the Big Apple. We currently live in Brooklyn and are loving and learning and growing so much. But big pieces of all four of our hearts will always be in Mississippi and we know one day (not too far away) we will return. There is nothing like Brooklyn and there is nothing like Dixie and I am grateful to the Lord for giving me both. These are the best days of my life. Thank you for wanting to share in them.